View of the Traun Valley from Vorkastell Celtic Hillfort

"Rosselhalde" pre-fortPre-fort - a term often found on the edge of the mountains in different forms for high-altitude viewpoints, which in the past often served to secure and control traffic arteries and settlement areas. At this point you can see the valley cut into the subsoil by the Traun and cleared. The power of the flowing water was and is still used in large and small sawmills for processing the abundance of wood in the vast Hunsrück forests. At various points on the slopes exposed by the water, smaller ore deposits were occasionally exploited. The raw materials obtained here were prepared and processed together with ores from other sites downstream at Abentheuer. The valley picture through the Traun is made possible by a weakening zone in the subsoil - called a disturbance in the technical language of geologists - as they often occur in large numbers on the south-eastern edge of the slate mountains. The course of this fault is predominantly north-west - south-east, i.e. roughly at right angles to the course of the mountain edge itself. The rock in the fault areas is broken up and therefore more susceptible to being washed out by rainwater than elsewhere. The consequence is the development of valleys like the one ahead. The quartzite blocks visible below the site are part of a not very clearly defined "Rosselhalde" (rock slope). Such weathering fields were created during the last Ice Age as a result of the rock stress caused by the stronger fluctuations in temperatures at that time (so-called frost and thaw changes). Because the southernmost ice age glaciers Haberı did not cover the local areas, the quartzite was exposed to the above-mentioned influences much more than under the protective ice cover of a glacier.

Pre-fort - Celtic fortress and legendary placeThe fore-fort is a Celtic height fortification. There are similar facilities at the nearby Ringkopf, on the Wildenburg and in Otzenhausen. Probably between the 5th and 3rd centuries BC. An approximately oval ring wall of approx. 80 x 120 m was built here at the fore fort. In total, it covers an area of around one hectare, roughly the size of a soccer field. The pre-fort served the Treverians - that is the name of the Celtic tribe that lived in this area - probably as a refuge for humans and cattle during times of war. There are numerous legends about the pre-fort, for example that of the princess in the pre-fortSay of the princess in the fore-fortrinzenberg.de/geschichten/#1491559304260-3944d63a-5f09

The remains of the Celtic hilltop settlement, built by the Treveri, probably date back to the 5th to the 3rd century BC. The Fliehburg served humans as a refuge during wartime. The ring wall was built of quartzite findings. A blackboard will tell you more about the story and also tells you what's up with the "princess in the pre-post office".